Plebejus christophi

Taxobox
name = Small Jewel Blue


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image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Lepidoptera
superfamilia = Papilionoidea
familia = Lycaenidae
genus = "Plebejus"
genus_authority = Kluk, 1780
species = "P. christophi"
binomial = "Plebejus christophi"
binomial_authority = (Staudinger 1874)

The Small Jewel Blue ("Plebejus christophi") [http://internt.nhm.ac.uk/jdsml/research-curation/projects/lepindex/detail.dsml?TaxonNo=205628.0&UserID=&UserName=&&listPageURL=list%2edsml%3fSCIENTIFIC%5fNAME%5fon%5fcardqtype%3dstarts%2bwith%26sort%3dSCIENTIFIC%255fNAME%255fon%255fcard%26SCIENTIFIC%5fNAME%5fon%5fcard%3dchristophi%26recLimit%3d30&searchPageURL=index%2edsml%3fsort%3dSCIENTIFIC%255fNAME%255fon%255fcard%26SCIENTIFIC%5fNAME%5fon%5fcardqtype%3dstarts%2bwith%26SCIENTIFIC%5fNAME%5fon%5fcard%3dchristophi%26recLimit%3d30 Card for species "christophi" in LepIndex. Accessed 01 January 2007.] ] is a small butterfly found in Asia [http://www.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/papilionoidea/lycaenidae/polyommatinae/plebejus/index.html Page on Marrku Savela's site for genus Plebejus (Lycaenidae).] ] Evans,W.H.(1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies, ser no H22.4, pg 226. ] that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues family.

Description

The Small Jewel Blue is 28-35mm in size. The male butterfly is rather dull violet-blue above with narrow borders. The female is brown above and has blue-scaled bases. On the underside of both sexes, the hindwing sport small metallic spots along the entire margin but without prominent red marginal spots. The marginal spots on the margins of both the forewings and hindwings are faintly orange-crowned. The discal spots on the hindwing are small or minute while those on the forewing may be large and prominent.Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957) Butterflies of the Indian Region, pg 282.]

Description ex Bingham

Race "samudra", Moore. Male Upperside: pale lavender-blue. Fore and hind wings: termen somewhat broadly and diffusely fuscous black; costal margin and apex of hind wing more broadly so; in fresh specimens the bluish scaling on the hind wing posteriorly is carried nearly to the terminal margin, this gives the wing an appearance of a posterior terminal series of three or four large fuscous black spots, one in each interspace; cilia white. Underside: pale grey. Fore wing with the usual transverse disco-cellular and discal series of six while-encircled black spots, no spot in the cell or in interspace 1; the discal row of spots regular (not sinuate), slightly curved, very obliquely placed, sloping posteriorly inwards, the four posterior spots in the series large and posited "en echelon"; these are followed by a double subterminal series of dusky lunules and a slender anticiliary black line; the series of Innules become in many specimens obsolescent anteriorly. Hind wing: the markings much as in the female of "L. balucha", but the discal scries oF spots is placed further inwards,the spots of the subterminal row are speckled with minute metallic green scales, and the ochra-ceous edging to the transverse series of black lunules is wanting.Bingham, C. T. 1907. Fauna of British India. Butterflies. Volume 2]

Female upperside brown, the bases of the wings irrorated with bluish-grey scales, the irroration extended irregularly along the dorsal margin of the hind wing. Cilia of fore and hind wings conspicuously white. Underside; ground-colour as in the male; markings slightly larger, more clearly defined. Fore wing: the transverse diseal series of spots insinuate, the posterior three spots of the series distinctly larger than the others, the middle spot of these three shifted inwards ; the terminal markings consist of a transverse postdiscal series of black lunules edged outwardly with bright ochraceous, followed by a transverse series of black spots and an anticiliary black line, all very clearly defined. Hind wing: markings very similar to those of the male but the discal series of spots is closer to the base of tho wing and the postdiscal transverse row of black lunules is prominently edged outwardly with ochraceous. In both sexes the antennae are black, the shafts ringed as usual with white; tho head, thorax and abdomen are dark brown or black with a more or less dense clothing of purplish-blue hairs and scales; beneath: the palpi, thorax and abdomen white.

Taxonomy

The butterfly was earlier known as "Polyommatus christophi" (Staudinger).

Range

* As per Evans, it ranges along the Himalayas from Baluchistan in Pakistan to Kashmir and Ladakh in India.
* Wynter-Blyth records the butterfly as Not Rare and ranging from Baluchistan, Chitral, Ladakh and Kashmir.
* As per Savela, the butterfly ranges from North Iran, Caucasus, Kurdistan, Turkestan, Chitral, North Afghanistan, Turan, South Ghissar, South Armenia, Turkey and Kansu.

Cited references

ee also

*List of butterflies of India (Lycaenidae)

References

* Beccaloni, G. W., Scoble, M. J., Robinson, G. S. & Pitkin, B. (Editors). 2003. The Global Lepidoptera Names Index (LepIndex). World Wide Web electronic publication. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/entomology/lepindex [accessed 14 October 2006] .
* Bingham, C. T. 1907. Fauna of British India. Butterflies. Volume 2.
* Evans, W.H. (1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies. (2nd Ed), Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.
* Marrku Savela's Website on Lepidoptera [http://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/index.html] .
* Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957) Butterflies of the Indian Region, Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.